Refrigerating device with frame heating

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a refrigeration device having a main body with a frame and an access opening and a door. The door and the main body each have heat-insulated surfaces and together delimit a heat-insulated compartment and the door is movable between an open position in which access to the heat-insulated compartment can be had through the access opening of the main body and a closed position in which the door cooperates with the frame of the main body restricts access through the access opening of the main body to the heat-insulated compartment. An electrical frame heating assembly is disposed relative to the frame of the main body for heating the frame and has a Peltier element.

The invention relates to a refrigerating device having a carcass and at least one door, which mutually delimit a heat-insulating inner chamber.

With refrigerating devices, condensation can collect on the exterior of a rubber profile, which is attached between the door and a frame of the carcass frame facing the door, since here the weakest insulation point lies externally.

In order to prevent the formation of dew, it is necessary to heat the frame area. A refrigerating device 10 embodied as a cooling and freezing combination is thus indicated in DE 295 04 901 U1 for instance, the two compartments of which can be sealed with separate doors, which comprise a magnetic seal arranged circumferentially on their edges. The abutment region of the doors on the carcass is provided with a lug made of ferromagnetic material, on the rear side of which is located a heating tube, to which is applied hot gas in order to prevent condensation from forming on the lug.

Alternatively, heating wires can be arranged to this end in the frame area. They are partially foamed when the dual cladding of the carcass is foamed. Interchangeable heating wires have been proposed in DE 3 505 759, said heating wires being positioned in a hollow section of the carcass which is used to support the rubber profile on the closure edge of the door.

Refrigerating or freezing devices, with which two doors seal a connected inner chamber, are becoming more and more popular. The majority of doors are not only practical when opening the device, but are also advantageous in terms of energy consumption, since the heat input is less when only one door is opened, than when all doors are open. This favorable energy balance is herewith reduced in that a non-foamed intermediate pillar, which is attached as a stop element between two doors in each instance, is also electrically heated, in addition to heating within the frame area of the carcass, in order to prevent condensation from forming on this component. The heating of the intermediate pillar by means of a heating tube would namely be more favorable in terms of energy consumption, since the waste heat of the compressor can be used for this purpose, indeed the positioning of a heating tube in the intermediate pillar would significantly complicate the assembly, thereby significantly increasing manufacturing costs and production time for the refrigerating device.

It would be desirable, not only with two or multiple door fridges or freezers, but for all refrigerating devices, if, in order to heat the frame area of the carcass or if necessary also on the door, it is not necessary to opt either for a heating element with a favorable energy balance or for a heating element which can be easily assembled.

It is thus the object of the present invention to specify a refrigerating device, with which a frame heating is energy-efficient and at the same time can be easily assembled in order to prevent the formation of condensation.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that in the case of a refrigerating device having a carcass and at least one door, which mutually delimit a heat-insulating inner chamber and a frame of the carcass facing the door is provided with electrical frame heating, the frame heating comprises at least one Peltier element.

The advantage of the Peltier element compared with the heating tube lies in the fact that it is supplied with electricity and can thus be assembled in the frame region in precisely the same manner as a heating wire. By comparison with the heating wire, it demonstrates a significantly better energy balance.

A Peltier element is an electrical component based on the Peltier effect named after Jean Peltier. A Peltier element mostly consist of two thin ceramic plates, between which differently doped semiconductors which are connected one behind the other are arranged such that all semiconductor barrier layers lie in the vicinity of the first ceramic plate, on which the current passes from one semiconductor of a first doping type into a semiconductor of the second doping type, while the barrier layers, on which a current transfer from a semiconductor of the second doping type to one of the first type takes place, which are adjacent to the second ceramic plate. The fact that heat is conducted from one ceramic plate to the other, in the case of a current flowing through the semiconductor, so that the one plate is cooled and other is warmed depending on the current direction, is referred to as a Peltier effect. This heat transmission from plate to plate, which additionally develops into ohmic heat flow in the Peltier element, improves the energy balance of the Peltier element by comparison with heating wire, with which only ohmic heat is released.

With a preferred embodiment of the invention, the inner chamber of the refrigerating device is divided by a separating body into two zones, which can be sealed in each instance by a door, and the Peltier element is arranged in the separating body, because the application of a heating tube is particularly difficult in such a separating body.

The separating body can be a continuous separating wall between the two zones, in this case the two zones can be operated at different storage temperatures.

The separating body can however also only have the form of a bar, which forms a part of the frame of the carcass and behind which the two zones connect with one another. Provision is made in accordance with the invention for the separating body to be moveable together with at least one of the doors, in order to prevent the separating body from becoming a hindrance to the user, who simultaneously opens both doors in order to fill, empty or clean the refrigerating device.

To this end, with a first embodiment of the invention, the separating body is linked to a side wall of the carcass. This embodiment is characterized in that the separating body can be assembled using the hinges which are conventional in the field of refrigerating devices, with which the doors can also be fastened to the carcass. These mostly consist of an arm supporting a mounting pin, which is fastened to the frame, and a matching mounting pin sleeve, which is to be attached to the door and/or separating body. The separating body can, like the doors, optionally have a right or left hinge.

The assembly and movement control of doors and separating body is then particularly simple if the separating body and doors can be pivoted about the same axis. Only then can the common pivoting process of the separating body and door be realized using simple fastening means between the door and separating body.

With another embodiment of the invention, the separating body is linked to one of the doors. This variant of the embodiment is particularly suited to refrigerating devices with doors arranged one above the other. The separating body should in this case be pivotable about an axis, which runs parallel to one of the edges of the door which face each other.

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the subsequent description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the appended figures, in which;

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a two-door refrigerating device as claimed in the present invention, in which both doors are open;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the same refrigerating device with only one door open

FIG. 3 shows a vertical section through the separating body of the refrigerating device from FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a refrigerating device according to the invention,

FIG. 5 shows a horizontal partial section through an articulation link between the separating body and the door of the refrigerating device from FIG. 4.

A first embodiment of the refrigerating device according to the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 1, a refrigerating device according to the invention is designated with the reference character 1. The perspective illustration shows the carcass 2 of the refrigerating device 1 with doors 3 a and 3 b arranged one above the other and linked thereto in an open position. The doors 3 a and 3 b are connected to a front side of the carcass 2 referred to as frame 6 by means of hinges 10, 11. Each door 3 a, 3 b is provided on the inside with a circumferential elastic magnetic profile seal 5. Of the four straight sealing sections, of which each magnetic profile seal 5 is conventionally composed, those three which are visible in the Fig. rest on the frame 6 of the carcass when the doors 3 a, 3 b are closed. The fourth sections of both doors 3 a, 3 b adhere magnetically to a beam-like separating body 9, in the position in FIG. 1, said separating body being suspended in a pivotable fashion on the hinges 11 of the two doors 3 a and 3 b which are adjacent to one another. The doors 3 a, 3 b and the separating body 9 have the same pivoting axis and execute the same pivoting movement when the doors 3 a and 3 b are opened and closed. When the doors 3 a, 3 b are in the closed position, the separating body 8 penetrates into a cooling chamber 4 of the carcass 2.

Three shelves 7 divide the cooling chamber 4 into four cooling compartments 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, the doors 3 a and 3 b can be opened jointly so that the cooling chamber 4 is easily accessible. To enable both doors 3 a, 3 b to be opened with one single hand movement, the lateral edges of the doors are provided with an undercut 12. This extends over the entire height of the doors 3 a, 3 b, so that these can be gripped at any height; it is particularly possible to grip both doors with one hand at the same time, in order to open them.

It is also possible to open each door 3 a, 3 b individually, as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective illustration of the refrigerating device 1 with an open upper door 3 a and a closed lower door 3 b. If only one door is opened, like door 3 a in FIG. 2, the respective other door 3 b prevents the separating body 9, from following the opening movement. The separating body 9 remains in the same position it has with closed doors, its front side remains flush with the frame 6 of the carcass 2. On the one hand, the partial opening of the refrigerating device reduces the loss of cold air in the inner chamber 4 and on the other hand reduces the relatively large force which the user has to apply when opening a large refrigerating device door.

FIG. 3 shows a vertical section through the separating body 9. The separating body 9 consists of a quadratic body made of heat-insulating material, in which a ferromagnetic plate 13 is embedded, to which the magnetic seals 5 of the doors 3 a, 3 b adhere. The plate 13 extends vertically over the entire intermediate space between the seals 5 of the two doors, into which moist ambient air can penetrate, but only across one part of the width of the seals 5.

A Peltier element 14 is accommodated within the separating body 9, said Peltier element being shown here in a manner known per se with two ceramic plates 15, 16 and between these a plurality of differently doped semiconductor pieces 17, 18. One of the ceramic plates 15 touches the ferromagnetic plate 13, the other 16 is located close to the rear side of the separating body 9. The plates 15, 16 are thus thermally coupled closely to the surroundings and/or the cooling chamber 4 in each instance. The Peltier element 14 thus has direct current applied to it such that plate 15 functions as a warm side and plate 16 as a cold side, i.e. the heating power, which the Peltier element 14 outputs to the ferromagnetic plate 13, is composed of ohmic heat released by the current flow in the element 14 and heat which is guided outwards from the cooling chamber 4 by the Peltier effect.

FIGS. 4 und 5 show a further exemplary embodiment of the invention. The perspective view shows the refrigerating device 21 with a carcass 22, doors 23 a and 23 b and a cooling chamber 24. The doors 23 a, 23 b extend over the entire height of the carcass 22 and are linked to opposite sides of the carcass 22. The door 23 a is conventionally provided on the inside with a circumferential elastic magnetic profile seal 25. On the other door 23 b, one of the four sections of the magnetic profile seal 25 is replaced by an air-tight hinge, which links a separating body in the form of a vertical beam with the door 23 b.

FIG. 5 shows a horizontal subsection through the separating body 29 and its surroundings. To clarify the functionality of the separating body when opening and closing the doors, a number of positions of the separating body are shown, which the separating body adopts if the door 23 b is closed and/or if it is opened.

To simplify the figures, the inner structure of the separating body 29 is not shown. It corresponds largely to the structure of the separating body 9 shown in FIG. 3. A Peltier element has a warm side, which touches a ferromagnetic plate, to which a section of the magnetic seal 25 of the door 23 a adheres when the doors are in a closed position. A cold side is thermally coupled to the cooling chamber 24.

Current supply lines for the Peltier element are guided through the hinge 30 and door 23 b.

A groove 40 is formed in each instance on the upper and lower side of the separating body 29, into which groove pins 41, which are at a distance from the floor and ceiling of the cooling chamber, engage when the door 23 b is closed.

When the door 23 b is closed, the position of the separating body 29 is shown as a filled outline with a closed contour. The pin 41 is located on one end of the groove 40, and the front side of the separating body 20, in which the ferromagnetic plate (not shown) is embedded, is flush with the front side of the carcass 22, so that the whole length of the metal profile seal 25 of the closed door 23 a lies closely either against the carcass 22 or against the separating body 29.

The door 23 a can be opened and closed in a conventional fashion, precluding the need for further explanation.

The door 23 b is shown in the Figure in two positions, namely as an empty contour in the closed position and as a filled contour in the partially open position. If the door 23 b is opened, the separating body 29 is pulled by way of the hinge 30 and the pin 41 slides along the groove 40 and herewith pivots the separating body 29. The region of the front side of the separating body 29 against which the magnetic profile seal 24 of the door 23 a rests first pivots into the interior of the cooling chamber 24 and releases itself from the seal 25. The pivoting movement enables the separating body 29 to be pushed up past the closed door 23 a. In this way, the separating body 29 finally reaches a position illustrated as an empty continuous contour, in which a side edge 42 thereof abuts the rear side of the door 23 b. In this position, the pin 41 emerges from the groove 40, and the door 23 b can be freely opened again.

If the door 23 b is closed again, the open end of the groove 40 once again meets the pin 41, slides into the groove 40 and thus guides the separating body 29 on a pivoting movement, which returns back to the initial position which lies flush with the carcass 22. 

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A refrigerating device comprising: a.) a main body having a frame and an access opening; b.) a door, the door and the main body each having heat-insulated surfaces and together delimiting a heat-insulated compartment and the door being movable between an open position in which access to the heat-insulated compartment can be had through the access opening of the main body and a closed position in which the door closes upon the frame of the main body to restrict access through the access opening of the main body to the heat-insulated compartment; and c.) an electrical frame heating assembly disposed relative to the frame of the main body for heating the frame, the electric frame heating assembly having at least one Peltier element.
 9. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the compartment of the main body is divided by a separating portion of the frame of the main body into two zones, the door is movable between its open and closed positions relative to one of the zones of the main body, a second door is movable between its open and closed positions relative to the other of the zones of the main body, and the at least one Peltier element is arranged in the separating portion of the frame of the main body.
 10. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the separating portion of the frame of the main body is movable in coordination with at least one of the doors.
 11. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the separating portion of the frame of the main body is linked to a side wall of the main body.
 12. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the separating portion of the frame of the main body and the doors are pivotable about the same axis.
 13. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the separating portion of the frame of the main body is linked to one of the doors.
 14. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the separating portion of the frame of the main body is pivotable about an axis that runs parallel to edges of the doors which face one another. 